Map of the South Sandwich Plate (SAN) shows its position between the Antarctic Plate (ANT), the Scotia Plate (SCO), and the South American Plate (SAM). The East Scotia Ridge (ESR), the South Sandwich Islands (SSI), and the South Sandwich Trench (SST) are also visible.
The South Sandwich Trench is a deep arcuate trench in the South Atlantic Ocean lying 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the east of the South Sandwich Islands. It is the deepest trench of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and the second-deepest of the Atlantic Ocean after the Puerto Rico Trench. Since the trench extends south of the 60th parallel south, it also contains the deepest point in the Southern Ocean.
The deepest point in the entire trench is the Meteor Deep, whose location prior to February 2019 was identified as 55°25.12′S26°24.28′W / 55.41867°S 26.40467°W / -55.41867; -26.40467 (Meteor Deep) at a depth of 8,202 metres (26,909 ft). This sounding was made during the German Meteor expedition. The depth is named after the German survey ship Meteor, which first surveyed the area as part of its namesake expedition in 1926. The deepest point below the 60th parallel south, the deepest point in the Southern Ocean, is dubbed by Victor Vescovo as the Factorian Deep, a name that he hopes will become official. This point lies at a depth of 7,433.6 metres (24,388 ft), and is the only subzero Hadal zone in the world.[1]
The trench is 965 kilometres (600 mi) long and has a maximum depth of 8,266 metres (27,119 ft) below sea level at 55°13.47′S26°10.23′W / 55.22450°S 26.17050°W / -55.22450; -26.17050, as measured by a Kongsberg EM124 multibeam sonar from February 2–7, 2019 during the Five Deeps Expedition. This measurement was made during the first complete sonar mapping of the trench which covered its entire length, with a measurement error of +/- 11 metres (36 ft). The deepest point of the South Sandwich Trench is only 110 metres (361 ft) shallower than the deepest point in the Puerto Rico Trench, sometimes known as the Milwaukee or Brownson Deep.
The trench is produced by the subduction of the southernmost portion of the South American Plate beneath the small South Sandwich Plate. The South Sandwich Islands constitute a volcanic island arc which results from this active subduction. Mount Belinda on Montagu Island is an active volcano.
^"Explorer makes history as first human to successfully dive to the deepest point in the Southern Ocean, in the South Sandwich Trench" (PDF).
and 27 Related for: South Sandwich Trench information
19139 The SouthSandwichTrench is a deep arcuate trench in the South Atlantic Ocean lying 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the east of the SouthSandwich Islands...
major trenches of the Atlantic Ocean, after the Puerto Rico Trench and the SouthSandwichTrench. It bisects the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) just north of the...
Shag, South Georgia Island and Clerke Rocks. The eastern border comprises the volcanic SouthSandwich Islands flanked by the SouthSandwichTrench. The...
The SouthSandwich Plate or the Sandwich Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) bounded by the subducting South American Plate to the east, the...
2021 SouthSandwich Islands earthquakes were a pair of powerful earthquakes, followed by many strong aftershocks which struck along the SouthSandwich Trench...
submarine basin that lies in the Scotia Sea of the South Atlantic ocean, behind the SouthSandwichtrench and between latitudes 55–60° S. It is bounded to...
Oceanic trenches are prominent, long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor. They are typically 50 to 100 kilometers (30 to 60 mi) wide and...
the SouthSandwichTrench. For this attempt, the expedition used a Kongsberg EM124 multibeam sonar system to achieve accurate mapping of the trench. On...
Plate at the Puysegur Trench. The South American Plate is subducting under the SouthSandwich Plate, forming the SouthSandwichTrench. The oceanic Australian...
curved form, a chain of active or recently extinct volcanoes, a deep-sea trench, and a large negative Bouguer anomaly on the convex side of the volcanic...
the Diamantina Trench of the Indian Ocean (8,047 m or 26,401 ft), SouthSandwichTrench of the Southern Ocean (7,235 m or 23,737 ft), and Molloy Deep of...
successfully dive to the deepest point in the Southern Ocean, in the SouthSandwichTrench" (PDF). Plummer, Joel. Jakobshavn Bed Elevation Archived 27 June...
margins form deep trenches: the Puerto Rico Trench (8,376 m or 27,480 ft maximum depth) in the western Atlantic and SouthSandwichTrench (8,264 m or 27...
depth of 7,236 m (23,740 ft) occurs at the southern end of the SouthSandwichTrench, at 60°00'S, 024°W. The Antarctic continental shelf appears generally...
Plain. Some of the bottom water spreads through a gap to fill the SouthSandwichTrench. Because of upwelling the new Weddell Sea Bottom Water turns clockwise...
interaction with the advancing SouthSandwichTrench or the SouthSandwich block. As a part of the Scotia Plate, the South Georgia block has been moving...
by the abyssal SouthSandwichTrench, with depths of 8,325 meters below sea level. The collision of tectonic plates, such as the South American, Antarctic...
February 2019, Vescovo piloted Limiting Factor to the bottom of the SouthSandwichTrench, the deepest part of the Southern Ocean, becoming the first person...
andesitic rather than basaltic lava. The subduction zone forming the SouthSandwichTrench lies to the east of the island arc. List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic...
German Meteor expedition 1925-27 Meteor Deep, deepest spot of the SouthSandwichTrench (8,428 m) Great Meteor Seamount Wikimedia Commons has media related...
the Candlemas Islands in the SouthSandwich Islands. It is one of about a dozen islands that make up the SouthSandwich island arc, a chain of volcanoes...
summits emerge above sea level. The South American Plate subducts beneath the Scotia Plate in the SouthSandwichTrench, causing the volcanism of these islands...
the Scotia Arc east of the South Sandwich Plate, are the SouthSandwich island arc and trench. This volcanic active island arc has submerged ancestors...
with a moving plate tectonic boundary) also typically include an oceanic trench and a subduction zone. Abyssal plains cover more than 33% of the ocean floor...
Ocean SouthSandwichTrench – A deep arcuate trench in the South Atlantic Ocean east of the SouthSandwich Islands Sumatra Trench – Subduction trench in...
Montagu Island is the largest of the SouthSandwich Islands, located in the Scotia Sea off the coast of Antarctica. Almost entirely ice-covered with only...
Bahamas, Grand Banks, Puerto Rico Trench and the Agulhas Fracture Zone in the Atlantic Ocean, the SouthSandwichTrench in the Southern Ocean, the Diamantina...
Global Information